The 5th Field Artillery Regiment was constituted as part of the Regular Army in January 1907. Individual battalions have lineages which date back further. Currently, it is a parent regiment under the U.S. Army Regimental System, with a single active battalion, the 1st Battalion, 5th Field Artillery, which is assigned to the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kansas.
Distinctive unit insignia
The distinctive unit insignia consists of a device of gold-colored metal and enamel, in diameter, depicting an adaptation of the crest and motto of the coat of arms. The crest is that of the Hamilton family, since Alexander Hamilton was a founding commander of one of the elements of the regiment.
The distinctive unit insignia was originally approved for the 5th Field Artillery Regiment on 21 January 1924. It was redesignated for the 5th Field Artillery Battalion on 13 September 1944. The insignia was cancelled on 19 April 1960. It was reinstated and authorized for the 5th Field Artillery Regiment effective 1 September 1971.
Coat of arms
Blazon
Shield Gules the liberty bell Or between five arrows four point down in fess paleways and one in base fessways, the latter broken Sable fimbriated Argent. On a chief embattled Vert fimbriated Argent a five-pointed mullet of the last (for the 12th Corps, Civil War). Crest On a wreath of the colors Or and Gules, on a mount an oak tree fructed of 13 acorns and penetrated transversely in the main stem by a frame saw Proper, the frame Or (For Alexander Hamilton). Motto FAITHFUL AND TRUE. Symbolism Shield The shield is scarlet for Artillery. The Liberty Bell alludes to the Revolutionary War. The five arrows commemorate the Indian War campaign credit of old Company "F", 4th Artillery. The broken arrow is indicative of the engagement at the Battle of the Wabash, Ohio Territory, 4 November 1791, in which all officers and two-thirds of the men of Bradford’s Company, Battalion of Artillery, were killed. The embattled partition line refers to the ramparts of Chapultapec and denotes service during the Mexican War. The star, the insignia of the 12th Corps in which batteries of the regiment served, is representative of the Civil War. Crest The crest is the same used in the unit's distinctive unit insignia.
1st Battalion
1st Battalion, 5th Field Artillery traces its lineage to 6 January 1776, and is the oldest Regular Army unit on uninterrupted active duty. It is the only active Regular Army unit with credit for Revolutionary War service, and one of the few with credit for War of 1812 service.
The New York Provincial Company of Artillery was led first in the American Revolutionary War by Captain Alexander Hamilton, who would later become one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. During the Revolution, the company fought at Long Island, Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth, Yorktown, and New York.
After participating in the final victory at Yorktown, the unit was selected, in 1784, as the only Continental Army unit to remain on active duty status. Later the unit fought in the War of 1812, as well as in the Miami, Creek, Seminole, Little Big Horn and Pine Ridge Indian campaigns. In 1821 the company was designated as Company F, 4th Regiment of Artillery. The unit went on to participate in multiple campaigns in the Mexican War of 1846–1848.
Remaining loyal to the Union in the American Civil War, "Hamilton's Own" fought valiantly in the Valley, Manassas, Antietam, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and Virginia 1861 Campaigns.
After earning a campaign streamer at Santiago in the Spanish–American War, the ancestor of the 1st Battalion, 5th Field Artillery went to the Philippines and participated in the campaigns at Cavite, Luzon 1899, Samar 1900, and Samar 1901.
In 1901, the unit was redesignated as the 8th Battery, Field Artillery, Artillery Corps; in 1907 the 5th Field Artillery was organized, with "Hamilton's Own" becoming Battery D.
An officer of the battalion, First Lieutenant (later Brigadier General) Gruber composed the Caisson Song. The song that was the 1st Battalion, 5th Field Artillery's regimental march later became the Artillery and then the Army Song.
The battalion was assigned to the 1st Infantry Division and was among the first U.S. units sent to France in 1917 during World War I. The unit deployed as the 5th Field Artillery Regiment to fight at Montdidier-Noyon, Aisne-Marne, St. Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne, Lorraine 1917, Lorraine 1918, and Picardy. Captain Charles S. Chapman, Sr. commanded the force through all 5 major battles of WW I, returning to Fullerton, California to resume civilian life.